A psychologist for Miami-Dade County Public Schools has been arrested on child pornography charges after he allegedly uploaded sexual abuse material to social media, police said.
Robert Lee Turner, 62, was arrested Monday on five counts of possession of sexual performance by a child material, two counts of promoting sexual performance by a child, and resisting arrest without violence, Miami-Dade Police officials said.
"Our detectives have the unfortunate job of viewing and dissecting this very harmful material, but the end to that is them working towards identifying the individuals in these videos so that they can bring them the justice they deserve," Miami-Dade Detective Andre Martin said.
According to police and an arrest report, the investigation began when a cybertip was received from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding someone who had uploaded child sexual abuse material to social media back on May 25.
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The two videos, which involved children who appeared to be between age 8 and 16, were promoted and/or distributed to over 50 other users, the report said.
In addition to the two videos allegedly uploaded by Turner, he was found to have another video and photos depicting child sexual abuse material, the report said.
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While serving a warrant at Turner's home, Turner barricaded himself inside a locked bathroom until authorities were able to make their way in and take him into custody, the report said.
Turner was taken to a local hospital for evaluation before he was booked into jail.
Turner appeared before a judge on Tuesday, where a prosecutor asked that he be ordered to have no contact with minors and be on house arrest, saying he worked with children with special needs including autism.
The judge granted both orders and set Turner's bond at $23,000 while appointing a public defender.
In a statement Tuesday, Miami-Dade County Public Schools said Turner had been fired.
"Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) is deeply troubled by the disturbing allegations made against this individual. This type of behavior will not be tolerated. As such, the individual's employment with the District has been terminated and he will be precluded from seeking future employment with M-DCPS," the statement read.
